Josh breaks his finger

Josh Ring


1.     I was playing ultimate Frisbee at a tournament in Rhode Island with my school's team. It was a really warm and sunny day. I could walk around without a shirt on. I was trying to get a nice tan before the end of the day. In the third to last point of the day I dove to try to make a defensive play. I hit the ground first with my shoulder. My hand was under my body. I was trying to break my fall. My pinky finger got caught on the ground and I could feel all my weight come down on it hard. It felt like I stubbed it badly, as if I mishandled a basketball pass and let the ball hit my finger instead of my palm. It hurt. As I dove, I could see the Frisbee go by me and someone from the other team catch it in the end zone. They scored.

2.   I sat out the next point. I wasn't in much pain. I could barely feel anything at all, but when I looked at my finger, I saw that it was bent from the second knuckle slightly inwards. It seemed crooked. Since it didn't hurt, I played the last point of the game. The other team scored again so we lost. When they scored, I looked up at the sky as I held my right hand protectively. The sun hurt my eyes even though they were closed.

3.   As we began to pack up our stuff and head back to school, I asked one of my teammates to get some ice for my finger. I sat down and took off my cleats and then looked at my finger. It seemed crooked, but I was still able to move it pretty well. Still, I wanted the ice in case my finger began to swell. My teammate brought back a large bag of ice. I said it was too big and asked if anyone had a smaller bag. Someone else pointed out that I could just pour out some of the ice from the bag. I smiled and wondered why that hadn't occurred to me.

4.   I spilled half the bag of ice onto the grass. The cubes on the ground glistened in the sun and I could see that they immediately began to melt. I walked to the parking lot and got in the backseat of one of my teammate's cars. I wanted to get back home as soon as possible. I wasn't sure if I needed to go to the hospital for my finger, but I wanted to get back in time for dinner. I fell asleep soon after we got on the road.

5.   When I woke up, I noticed my shorts were wet. My leg was cold. I had been holding the bag of ice on my finger in my lap. The ice was melting in the bag and the bag had a leak. I asked if anyone in the car had an extra bag. I found one on the ground and put my bag of ice inside and tied it tightly. I looked at my hand again. It had begun to swell and was harder to move. I rolled my neck and thought that I might need to go to the hospital when I got back. I asked my teammate next to me what he thought. He had just woken up, too. It took him a while to think about it, but he agreed. I decided I'd get back, eat dinner quickly, and then go to the Emergency Room. I looked at the clock on the dashboard of the car and began to calculate how long each part of my plan would take.

6.   The teammate driving the car said that he had to take the next exit to get some gas. We all said that that was fine. We pulled up to the gas station. Everyone in the car got out to stretch a bit. I did not. I sat in the backseat, holding my hand against my chest. When the tank was full, everyone got back in the car. The driver turned the ignition, but the car did not start. He tried again, but the car still did not start. He sighed and said that that happens sometimes, that we would have to leave the car alone for twenty minutes or so. I did not move. I held my hand against my chest tighter, and then decided I had to get out of the car. I shook my head as I walked into store next to the gas station and bought some candy. Then I sat back in the car while my teammates looked under the car hood. They did not know anything about cars, but they figured they would look anyway. I could no longer move my finger. It was very swollen.

7.   After twenty minutes we tried to start the car again, but it did not start. The driver hit the steering wheel and said that we should push the car to a parking spot instead of leaving it at the gas pump. I did not move. Two of them got out of the car and pushed the car, while the third steered. They did not ask me for help.


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Zeek
Zeek
June 2004


Becoming
Jewish-ish
Jeff Leavell



How I Finally Learned to Accept Christ in my Heart
Jay Michaelson



Playing Eve
Hila Ratzabi



Hyatt Regency Dead Sea Resort
Rowena Silver



Josh Breaks his Finger
Josh Ring



Mean to Girls
Dan Friedman



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From previous issues:

Fleeing Edges
Noam Mor

Davening with Joe
Michael Shurkin

The Red-Green Alliance
Dave Hyde